Month: July 2013

July 31, 2013

The DIA, Public Art, and the Common Good

In today’s Acton Commentary, “It’s Time to Privatize the Detroit Institute of Arts,” I look at the case of the DIA in the context of Detroit’s bankruptcy proceedings. One of my basic points is that it is not necessary for art to be owned by the government in order for art to serve the public. Continue Reading...
July 31, 2013

How Church Foreign Aid Programs Make Things Worse

In an interview with Forbes‘ Jerry Bower, Peter Greer, president and CEO of the the Hope International, explains why church foreign aid programs often hurts those its meant to help: Greer: There’s an entrepreneur named Jeff Rutt, and after the fall of the Soviet Union he had a desire to go over with his church and help. Continue Reading...
July 31, 2013

The Growth Of The Global Middle Class

It’s true: the middle-class is growing, globally. Here in the U.S., we keep hearing dire warnings about a shrinking middle class, but not across the globe. Alan Murray, president of The Pew Research Center, says witnessing its third great surge of middle-class growth. Continue Reading...
July 31, 2013

Contraceptive Mandate Divides Appeals Courts

Two different federal appeals courts have issued opposite rulings on whether Obamacare can force company owners to violate their religious beliefs by providing contraception and abortifacients to their employees. A divided panel of the U.S. Continue Reading...
July 30, 2013

Affordable Care Act May Mean Less People Working

The official White House website says that all Americans will now have access to affordable medical care, and that small business owners need not worry about rising costs: The proposal will also provide tens of billions in tax credits for small business owners to make insurance coverage more affordable. Continue Reading...
July 30, 2013

Play Hard, Work Harder

Over at Think Christian, Aron Reppmann asks whether there is a distinctly Christian way to vacation: “We have learned to approach our work as vocation, a calling from God, but what about our leisure?” Continue Reading...
July 30, 2013

How To Help Without Giving A Dime

Charitable giving, for the most part, involves money. But not always. The auto manufacturer, Toyota, donates efficiency. The car company’s model of kaizen (Japanese for “continuous improvement”) was one their employees believed could be beneficial beyond the manufacturing business. Continue Reading...
July 30, 2013

Economic Mobility and the Cleveland Plan

Anthony Dent has a clever plan to improve economic mobility: move strategically unimportant federal departments and agencies to economically impoverished cities and towns across America. Republicans would support it because, well, they hate DC and favor “real” America. Continue Reading...